Pathogenesis: a Poem about Plagues

 Pathogenesis can be parsed in two

even by those of us without a Latin underpinning

grammatically speaking

'patho' root of pathology

the study of decay and death

& the causes thereof, aka genesis

the beginning of bacteria 

galloping viruses, microbes

fleas, rats, sneezes, sewage, infected blankets

toxic water, mouldy crowded dwellings

shared with chickens & bovines

a world of human migrations

& privations, like the caves

upon which the Neanderthals

-yes, those early low-brows get a bad rap-

impressed their paint-wet palms, left carvings

were wiped out by sub-Saharan viruses

carried by at least six other groups of Homo Sapiens

Neanderthals wiped out yet their DNA lives on in us

likewise one-quarter million in Mexico City

seemingly vanquished by 126 Spaniards

not so, viruses, smallpox specifically

travelled first with scouts and did the job

even Montezuma who ruled, hence his revenge

on gringo travellers ever since

Most heartening, to me, is the story of early Haiti

where renegade slaves used yellow fever season cleverly

thwarting the French and subsequent European hordes

Less so, the fact enslaved Africans from known epicentres

of malaria went for higher prices in Louisiana

prized for their immunity not their humanity

There is more, much more about human folly 

but also smart public policy

waterworks, sewage treatment, vaccinations, ventilation

yet greedy hoarding of vaccines by the world's wealthiest countries

penalized the poor who most need affordable public health care

(May God damn the International Monetary Fund & World Bank cabals!)

& yet more, fascinating more, from paleontologist's discoveries behind scholarly paywalls brought to this keen reader now prosily proselytising: Read This Book!

 

Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy (Signal Editions, an imprint at McClelland & Stewart in Canada): 2023